Democrat Pollsters Express Alarm 2 Weeks Ahead of 2022 Midterms: ‘Wake up to Political Reality ‘
Several Democrat pollsters and analysts have expressed alarm in recent days about their party’s prospects ahead of the 2022 midterm elections.
Historically, the party of the president tends to lose seats in Congress. Democrats currently have a slim majority in the House and a razor-thin 50–50 majority in the Senate.
“A month ago, it looked like not only were the Democrats poised to hold the Senate, the question was: were they going to be able to get, you know, two extra seats?” Fernand Amandi, a Democrat pollster who worked on Barack Obama’s presidential campaigns, told The Hill publication on Monday. “Now I think the hope is just to hang on.”
Mainstream media outlets and Democrat politicians claimed that the Supreme Court’s summer decision reversing Roe v. Wade would bolster Democrats who campaign in favor of pro-abortion laws and mandates ahead of the 2022 midterms.
“If you look at the Dobbs decision—that seems to have come a little too early for the Democrats,” Jon Reinish, a Democrat strategist told the publication, adding that “inflation is probably the biggest” issue right now.
Inflation
In recent months, it’s become more clear that Americans are increasingly concerned about the state of the economy, gas prices, and inflation. Several weeks ago, the Department of Labor released the consumer price index for September and showed it remains near 40-year highs at 8.2 percent.
“Polling is going south in multiple races, and unless the goal is to lose more than we should ever have to, Democrats need to wake up to political reality and focus on inflation and economic anxiety—these are the issues that matter most to voters,” noted Chris Kofinis, CEO of Park Street Strategies, a public relations and research firm, in an interview with the typically Democrat-friendly NBC News.
“Inflation never should have been downplayed,” Mike Lux, a Democrat strategist, added. “Working-class folks are getting hit hard by inflation and we need to make clear that we understand what is going on, we know that people are having a tough time and we are with them in this fight.”
A recent poll commissioned for the same news outlet shows that 71 percent of Americans say the United States is heading in the wrong direction and a majority are worried about both the state of the economy.
“What is [Democrats’] message about why inflation is going to be worse if Republicans win?” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) told NBC in a recent interview. “I don’t think our economic message has been loud enough or sharp enough.” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), meanwhile, told Punchbowl News last week that Democrats will “have to message [inflation] better in the next three weeks ahead.”
Republicans have repeatedly hammered the Biden administration and Democrats for embracing left-wing economic policies such as targeting the oil industry with executive orders to promote a climate-friendly agenda, and for supporting COVID-19-related lockdowns and mandates that forced many businesses to shut down while snarling supply chains.
But Democrats and President Joe Biden have said a GOP victory in the House or Senate would spell doom for the U.S. economy.
“If you’re worried about the economy, you need to know this,” Biden said, according to a White House transcript. “The Republican leadership in Congress has made it clear they will crash the economy next year by threatening the full faith and credit of the United States for the first time in our history, putting the United States in default unless we yield to their demand to cut Social Security and Medicare. You heard that one, right? You all heard them say that. That’s what they’re saying.”
However, according to GOP pollster Ford O’Connell, Republican candidates only need to focus on two things to stay relevant.
“As long as the Republicans stay focused on two things—my money, my family—then they’ll win in 2022,” he told The Hill. “They’ll win in 2024. Because the Democrats aren’t showing any sign of changing their approach.”
